Actually I think it's pretty vapid, musically. The technique is fairly hackneyed and what he was playing was not at all impressive. As I said, vapid. But then, he is playing on the street, not to put down people who, well, play on the street.
Actually, when you cross a piano with a guitar, you get the Chapman Stick, a quite useless instrument that has yet to find its way into any meaningful musical application.
Novelty, in other words, does not good music make.:

Yeah, Jay, that's pretty out of line about the Chapman. I happen to love the whole 'Discipline' era of King Crimson and there's very little other bass than the Chapman stick... and whilst it may attune itself to indulgent playing, Levin (then at least) knew what he was doing and didn't let it become the 'Novelty'. The Warr Guitar is the next step of that and again, King Crimson used those until recently and at one point had two bass players (and drummers, and guitarists) and again, it's not all over-indulgence.

I saw a guy playing guitar like this in Covent Garden in London about a year ago. I was in an Italian Restaurant there and the guy was playing some old standards (not like this guy at all - this guy was more tasteful) and turned my normal meal with a mate into a romantic one completely by accident. We were laughing.

I saw a guy playing guitar like this in Covent Garden in London about a year ago. I was in an Italian Restaurant there and the guy was playing some old standards (not like this guy at all - this guy was more tasteful) and turned my normal meal with a mate into a romantic one completely by accident. We were laughing.

Yeah, Jay, that's pretty out of line about the Chapman. I happen to love the whole 'Discipline' era of King Crimson and there's very little other bass than the Chapman stick... and whilst it may attune itself to indulgent playing, Levin (then at least) knew what he was doing and didn't let it become the 'Novelty'. The Warr Guitar is the next step of that and again, King Crimson used those until recently and at one point had two bass players (and drummers, and guitarists) and again, it's not all over-indulgence.

I saw a guy playing guitar like this in Covent Garden in London about a year ago. I was in an Italian Restaurant there and the guy was playing some old standards (not like this guy at all - this guy was more tasteful) and turned my normal meal with a mate into a romantic one completely by accident. We were laughing.

wow you consider those massive warr guitars tasteful but not meditarranian sundance by paco di meola and mclaughlan. Retarded.

wow you consider those massive warr guitars tasteful but not meditarranian sundance by paco di meola and mclaughlan. Retarded.

Sorry?

If you haven't noticed the Warr Guitar is an instrument and those are compositions. It is not the instrument that is necessarily tasteful, but the use of it. Now go and listen to Trey Gunn in King Crimson from '94 until 2003. He doesn't actually use it in a tasteless manner. Tony Levin in King Crimson is the same.

You can't consider an instrument tasteless. It's all about the use. That's like trying to say because I have a big paintbrush, the big paintbrush is pretentious. It's not. It's just a tool - as is an instrument.

Secondly, Jay, taste is a subjective thing. Talking about "good taste" and "bad taste" is like talking about some place "not having any culture". Being "tasteful" is a socially determined and and entrained perception, which changes over time and depending on where you've been raised. The fact is that you're so stuck in western jazz tradition that you can't see the fact that your whole idea of what sounds good and bad, what's harmonious and dissonant, what's indulgent and what isn't is based on nothing but years of entrainment and socialization.

Thirdly, even if you decide to view the instrument through the horse blinds of American musical tradition, it's still just a tool like any other and can be used in infinite ways. It's the player that makes it tasteful or tasteless (from a particular perspective), not the tool itself. You can use knife to cut vegetables or you can stab someone with it.

When Mr. God Savior Jesus Buddy Rich said that the only kinds of music are "good and bad" music, it was because he was speaking from a rediculously closed-minded point of view that had spent it's entire life embroiled in and embodying American musical tradition, swing specifically, that he wouldn't have been able or willing to see his way past his prejudices if his life depended on it. Music expresses nothing but itself and its context.

I have a friend who plays the Sitar and he gave me a quick lesson. I can't play too well, but those twenty minutes were some of the most memorable in a long time. I've actually fallen in love with the instrument. I'm going to try and save some money and get one eventually. You guys will be the first to know.